ONDCP Excel Seventy-Fourth Row

Similarly, the weapons acquired by traffickers also enable them to wreak havoc within Mexico and the United States. The Southwest Border Strategy strongly endorsed an intensified focus on the south-bound threat. CBP is working to renovate south-bound point-of-exit lanes to allow for increased inspection and is hiring personnel specifically for the south-bound mission. DEA is building, in collaboration with other Federal agencies and State and local partners, a network of automated license plate readers to identify likely currency and weapons smugglers. This effort requires close cooperation with local authorities, both to facilitate installation of the cameras and to ensure the information is acted on appropriately. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is pursuing the use of Kingpin Act civil and criminal penalties against United States citizens supplying or selling arms to the cartels and also is exploring applying penalties to bulk cash smugglers. It is also aiming at designations of those receiving arms and bulk cash for the traffickers on the Mexican end of the supply chain. DHS, DOJ, and partner agencies will develop an interagency national concept plan in 2010 for a south-bound interdiction system and ensure sharing of data among systems tracking weapons, currency, and narcotics trafficking to promote effective targeting of operations and vital de-confliction of investigations. This effort will include utilization of the resources and capabilities of State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.